This invention relates to a composite wall structure and a process for erecting such structures. More particularly, this invention relates to a hermetically sealed, monolithic, insulated composite wall having improved lateral strength imparted thereto through the use of rigid urethane polymer foam in combination with otherwise conventional building blocks.
Building blocks, such as cinder block, concrete block, ceramic block, tile and brick, are widely used as a material of construction. Such blocks are conventionally erected into wall and similar structures using mortar or similar binders between individual blocks. This, however, is slow operation requiring the skills of a mason. In addition, the most popular building block, concrete block, is permeable to moisture and is not a good insulator. It is often necessary, therefore, to seal one or both sides of a concrete block wall and/or apply an insulating material thereto.
Many proposals have been advanced for up-grading the properties of building blocks, such as concrete block and to simplify building techniques. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,170 issued Apr. 4, 1972 to A. C. Sheckler provides building blocks with foam interiors. These blocks are constructed into a wall using conventional techniques and additional means are provided for bonding the foam between contiguous blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,000 issued Feb. 28, 1967 to Barnes and U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,890 issued Aug. 10, 1971 to Hala are representative of proposals made for simplifying building techniques using building blocks. The Barnes patent involves stacking masonry blocks to form a wall without using mortar and then painting one or both external faces, particularly at the joints where the blocks come together, with a molten composition of glass fibers uniformly dispersed in plasticized sulfur. This approach, however, only avoids the use of mortar and a wall constructed in this manner, especially when only coated on one side, still has to be treated to prevent moisture penetration and insulated to prevent thermal and sound penetration. The Hala patent relates to construction units having a porous resin-impregnated fibrous mesh material. Walls made from such construction units have a cementitious material secured to the exterior surface which penetrates the fibrous mesh. This technique requires the use of especially constructed building units and the application of a cementitious coating using conventional techniques.
In contrast, the present invention provides a hermetically sealed, monolithic, insulated composite wall structure having improved lateral strength which can be erected using conventional building blocks, such as concrete block.